New strain of Facebook virus has already infected nearly a million Facebook users

Beware of the new Facebook video virus, which can unintentionally be sent to you by a friend. This virus proliferates by itself and can take control over your social media account very quickly. All you need to do is to click on a link suggesting to watch a video, which takes you to a malware-laden website that prompts to install a browser extension to watch the video. If the victim agrees to install it, he or she practically gives the attackers access to private data stored in the browser (for example, saved passwords and similar information). Therefore, it means that frauds can log into any account they want, whenever they want as soon as you install this malicious browser extension.

The virus seems to be proliferating at an alarming rate – more or less 40,000 attacks per hour, which is incredible. Since the day this virus came to the surface, more than 800,000 victims infected their computers with it, and main targets seem to be Chrome users. After infecting one computer, it quickly escalates by automatically sending the malicious URLs via Facebook messages to all victim’s friends. This virus uses an efficient technique asking the victim to watch an interesting video, sometimes even crafting a customized thumbnail with your profile picture on it. Therefore, users can be easily tricked into installing a malicious browser plug-in.

Users should be aware of Facebook viruses and learn how to spot suspicious signs indicating that link sent by a friend is deceitful and links to a malicious website. If you can see that the URL leading to the video is a long and suspicious-looking, such as RIGVTL1F.LATESTNEWSTODAYS(.)COM, do not open it blindly – ask your friend if he or she really has sent this message to you instead. Besides, before installing any type of program or add-on, you should always search for more information about it, especially users’ feedback on it. If this or another version of Facebook virus has already trapped you and took control of your social media account, then follow these Facebook virus removal guidelines:

  • Clean malicious software from your system using the anti-malware program. If you do not wish to use anti-malware software, go to Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs, and uninstall suspicious entries. Then check each web browser separately, remove questionable extensions, and reset browser settings. You can see example instructions on how to clean your computer here.
  • Open Facebook and go to Settings > App Settings.
  • Then in the Apps, Websites and Plugins panel, click Edit button, and Disable the platform.
  • Then go to Settings again, and click Edit next to Password field. Change your password.
About the author
Olivia Morelli
Olivia Morelli - Ransomware analyst

Olivia Morelli is News Editor at 2-Spyware.com. She covers topics such as computer protection, latest malware trends, software vulnerabilities, data breaches, and more.

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